Murad Magomedov
Murad Magomedov is a lawyer of Human Rights Centre “Memorial” in the Republic of Dagestan. In particular, he represents victims of a large-scale “special operation” performed by the police and military forces in Vremenny village of Dagestan in September 2014. It is reported that the village was sealed off by military troops, and that the authorities had arbitrarily detained a number of residents. Allegedly, the authorities also began a process of what they termed “filtration”, whereby the whole population, about one thousand people, was ordered to participate in an inspection where police copied their documents and took photographs and fingerprints. The male residents were then reportedly ordered to leave the village until the special operation was completed. Throughout the security operation, journalists and independent observers, including human rights defenders, were denied access to the village, and witnesses reported abuses against residents.
Human rights defenders (HRDs) in the Russian Federation have been subjected to acts of harassment, surveillance, violations of the rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly, violent attacks, raids and searches on their offices and homes, slander and smear campaigns, judicial harassment, arbitrary detention and ill-treatment.
